Apparatus for making fillets



25, m24. Lm F. W. LOI-IR APPARATUS FOR MAKING FILLETS Filed Jan. ll, 1922 .'5 Shams-Sheet 2 F. W. LOHR APPARATUS FOR MAKING FILLETS Filed Jan. ll, 1922 I5 ShWt-Sheet 3 atented Nov. 25, 1924.

FREDERICK W. LOHR, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

' APPARATUS ron Maxine rILLE'rs.

appaicatimimed January 11, i922. serial no.' 528,553.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. LoHR, a citizen of the United States, residin at New York, county of New York, and tate of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for l Making Fillets, of which the following is a specification.

Fillets `of leather arecommonly used in making wooden or other patterns, butso far as I am aware,.each fillet is formed separately from the leather in such way that there is a considerable wastage of material. This is 'because the fillets are of generally angular cross section, but the cross section differing widely for adapting them to the particular requirements. Generally speaking, a leather fillet for this purpose has a broad base and Sides which converge from said base, and in forming the converging sides, the material which would be included between parallel planes passing at right angles to the flat base, at the edges of the base, is lost. Usually such fillets-one at a time-are formed by pressing a piece of leather against a V-shaped stationary knife or the like.

The present invention relatesto forming a number of fillets of any suitable flexible material simultaneously, and one of the objects of the invention is to so make the fillets that there is little or no waste material. Another obj ect. ofthe invention is to 'deflect the separated strips of leather from the lines along which the separation takes lace, so as to enable them to bepresent advantageously to suitable routing devices. Other objects are. to provide a vpractical and economical means for making leather or other fillets.

These being among the objects of the present invention, the same consists4 of certain steps in the method of manufacture and certain features of construction to be hereinafter described and then claimed with reference to the accompanying drawings showing one preferred embodiment of the invention, in which:

F ig. 1 is a transverse section, partly! in elevation, and partly dotted, to show the V preferred arrangement of the cutters Vor separ ators Fig. 2'is avert-ical central -section thereof,

Fig. 4 is a transverse section illustrating suitable routers;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view to illustrate the preferred method of manufacture;

Fig. 6 is an elevation of a cutter; and

Fig. 7 illustrates three typical fillets in cross section.

Referring to the drawings, the frame 10 is provided with a table 11, at the sides of which are frames 12. Two transverse supports 13, 14 connect the side frames 12, for supporting the separating devices to be hereinafter described. The parts 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, may be termed the supporting structure for the mechanism.

Suitable means are provided for operating the machine, as, for linstance, an electric motor enclosed in a motor-casing 15. This motor drives a train of gears 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, which are for the purpose of operating the cutting, slitting or separating devices. A pair of shafts 21, 22 is mounted in suitable bearings in the side frames 12, and said shafts respectively carry the gears 18, 20. A. series of inclined shafts 23 is journaled in suitable inclined bearings 24, which are supported by the transverse support 13. These inclined shafts 23'are preferably arranged parallel wit-h each other and in one plane transverse of the supporting structure, so that they will extend transversely of the table 11. These shafts 23 are connected with the drive-shaft 22 by means of bevel gears 25, 26, `'so that said inclined shafts may be rotated in unison.

Mounted on the lower ends of the inclined shafts 23 is a set of cutters or leatherslitters 27. These are arran ed parallel with each other, and are set in t e same relation with respect to the table 11 over which the piece of leather or large strip is conducted. It will be noticed that the set of cutters or separators 27 will therefore be inclined in one direction with respect to the upper surface of the table. I

There is a second series of inclined shafts 28, which is mounted `in suitable bearingsy on` the transverse support 14 so thatvthe plane of said series of shafts will be parallel withA the plane of the series of shafts 23. The inclined shafts 28 are operated from the drive-shaft 21 by means of pairs of bevel gears 29, 30, so that the shafts 28 will also rot-ate in unison. Mounted upon the lower ends of the inclined shafts 28 is a i seeondset. of cutters, slitters or separators 31, these being arranged parallel with each other. The sets of cutters 27, 31 are preferably arranged as near together as lossible, the cutters of each set being just su ciently separated from the cutters of the other set so that each cutter may rotate without coming in contact with any other cutter. '.I`he preferred specific arrangement and inclination of the cutters is clearly illustrated in Fig. 1, and it will be'seen that the cutters 31 incline in opposite direction to the cutters 27, so that the planes of the cutters of the two sets intersect. It is obvious that any kind ofV separating means suitable for the purpose ofslitting a piece of leather o r other material vmay. be uti ized, and that .instead of knife cutters, saws or anything which will sever thepiece of leather or other material 'into narrow strips ymay be used. As shown,

the cutters are adapted to produce strips which are triangular in cross section, but 1t is obvious that some suitable provision may l`be made for adjusting the cutters So as to produce other' cross sections for fillets.

' It is desirable that the table or supportmgbed 11 be provided with slots 32 which eX- tend parallel with `the length thereof, so that the edges of the cutters may, in the form shown, operate therein, and soy that the extreme edgesof the cutters may pass beyond the lower surface of the piece .of leather which is being separated into strips. Preferably the machine is operated with a numberv of yspring-actuated presser-shoes .33,

lwhich are mounted upon the transverse supports 13, 14. These shoes are adapted to bear' upon the upper surface of the piece of leather as the same travels along, and to keep the leather down and confined.' The contact surfaces of these shoes kmay be The shaft 36 lis driven from the gear 20 by means'of gears 37, 38 so as te rotate the shaft 36 of the trimmer.

A train of gear-s 39, 40, 41 is driven from the gearg16 of the motor, and this train is adapted to Voperate suitably conformed routing rolls 42, 43. These routing rolls are. of suitable .pattern,.depending upon the form of surface to be roduced upon the converging. sides of t e strips of leather, by removing nr buiiing ofi' the surfaces of the strips to produce the desirable configuration. Just to the rear of the points of of the piece of leatherseparation of the piece of leather into strips there is arranged a defiecting plate 44, the object of which is to enable some of the strips to be deflected in one direction, while the others pass in another direction. In the machine shown, the attendant of the machine may by suitable `manipulation cause alternate strips to be guided over the deflectingplate 44 to the routing-roll 43, While the other strips may be allowed to pass directly to the routing-roll 42, the two rolls routing out pairs of the strips at opposite sides of the shafts of the rolls. After the piece of leather has been formed into strips, the attendant may take hold of alternate strips with his hands and bend them over upon the deflecting plate 44, which will take care of the defiection after the strips have once been gripped to pull them through the machine. The table 11 opposes the routing-roll 42, while the guide 45 opposes the routingroll 43.

At the front of the machine there may be located a pair of feed-rolls 46, and at the rear thereof, suitable pulling-rolls 47, 48

for pulling the strips along.

A suitable form of cutter is illustrated in Fig. 6, from which it will be seen that it is 'provided with radial slits 27, which have a tendency to pull the piece of leather along as it is being slitted by the cutters.

The machine is adapted particularly to make fillets of the cross section shown in Fig. 7 at 50, but it is obvious that a great many cross sections may be made, depending upon the conformation of the routing-rolls and upon the arrangement of the cutters or separating devices, and also depending upon whether or not the cutters are adjusted. If made adjustable, other shapes of cross section, such as 51, 52, Fig. 7, may be roduced.

Referring more particularl to ig. 5. the method of operation involve herein will bc explained in detail. The piece of leather a is cut or slitted along longitudinal lines in such 'way that the slits b, c, are widely separated at one surface of the piece, but conver e or are closer together at the opposite sur ace; and, when fillets such as 50, Fig. 7 are to be made, the lines of convergence will be defined by simple, longitudinal, incisions at d. This will produce from the piece of leather three or more nested (as it were) triangular sectioned strips, which are separated along successively reversed inclined planes, and there will be no waste in this portion of the cut piece. There will be produced at the same time some smaller strips of different cross-section thereto, and these may be worked up into smaller fillets.

The strips are then deliected from their lines of se aration, preferably in substantially para lel planes. In one plane, the strips will be routed out by the routers at g to form .fillets e, while in the other plane lll famosi Y the strips will be routed out by appropriate routers to form the fillets f. Y

Obviously, the fillets may be madey of any suitable flexible material, and the inventionis susceptible to more or less modification, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as claimed.' .y

What I claim as new is:

l. In apparatus for making `flexible, fillets, the combination of means for holding a piece of flexible material, means for cutting the piece into strips and for concavinfr the edges of the strips, and means for simultaneously imparting an advance movement to one of said means.

2. In apparatus for making flexible fillets, the combination of means for. advancing a. piece of flexible material, a series of revolvable cutters to cut the material into strips, and means for concaving the edges of the strips.

3. In apparatus for making flexible fillets, the combination of means for cutting a piece of flexible material into strips, means for pressing u n the material while cutting, and means orreducing the strips to fillets.

4l. In apparatus for Imaking flexible fil-Y lets, the combination of means for supdll porting a piece of material, a guide for one edge thereof, a trimmer for trimming ofl the other edge, means for cutting the material into strips, and means for reducing the strips to fillets.

5. In apparatus for making flexiblel fillets, the combination of means for trimming an edge of a piece of flexible material, means for cutting the material into strips, and means for removing portions along the sides of the strips to form fillets.

'6. In apparatus for vmaking flexible fillets, the combination of means for sepaa piece of flexible material into siderati by-si e strips along successively reversed inclined planes, and means for reducing the f strips to llets. y

7. In apparatus for makingv flexible fil lets, the combination of means vfor separating a piece of Hexible material into sideby-side strips along successively reversed inclined planes, and means for acting upon the converging inclined surfaces of the l lill a piece of flexible material into side-by-side strips along successively reversed linclined planes, means for deflecting the strips alternately away from the plane of the piece of material at the points at which it is cut, and means for acting upon the inclined surfaces of the deflected strips to remove portions thereof and to form the fillets. A i

10. In apparatus for making flexible fillets, the combination of means for causing the travel of a piece of flexible material, rotary drive shafts, transverse stationary supports located between the shafts and the line of travel of the material, said'shafts extending in the same direction as said supports, oppositely-inclined shafts mounted in bearings on the supports and extending above and below said supports, a cutter mounted on one end of each inclined shaft so that the two series of cutters intersect along lines parallel with the line of travel, and intermeshing gears between the other vends of said inclined shafts and said rotary "shafts and located between said rotary shafts and said transverse supports.

V11. In apparatus for making flexible fillets, the combination of means for causing the travel of the piece of flexible material, and cut-ting means comprising two series of movable blades, one series ahead of the other, and the blades of the two series being inclined to each other and intersecting along lines parallel with the line of travel, means for deflecting the strips alternately into two planes, andV means for removing parts of the adjacent converging surfaces ofy the strips in both planes. y

FREBERICK W. LOHR. 

